In recent years, soft silicone hydrogel contact lenses become more and more popular because of their high oxygen permeability and comfort. However, all commercially available silicone hydrogel contact lenses are produced according to a conventional cast molding technique involving use of disposable plastic molds and a mixture of monomers in the presence or absence of macromers. However, disposable plastic molds inherently have unavoidable dimensional variations, because, during injection-molding of plastic molds, fluctuations in the dimensions of molds can occur as a result of fluctuations in the production process (temperatures, pressures, material properties), and also because the resultant molds may undergo non-uniformly shrinking after the injection molding. These dimensional changes in the mold may lead to fluctuations in the parameters of contact lenses to be produced (peak refractive index, diameter, basic curve, central thickness etc.) and to a low fidelity in duplicating complex lens design.
Such disadvantages encountered in a conventional cast-molding technique can be overcome by using the so-called Lightstream Technology™ (CIBA Vision), as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,508,317, 5,789,464, 5,849,810, and 6,800,225, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. The Lightstream Technology™ involves (1) a lens-forming composition which is typically a solution of one or more substantially purified prepolymer with ethylenically unsaturated groups and which generally is substantially free of monomers and crosslinking agents with a small molecular weight, (2) reusable molds produced in high precision, (3) curing under a spatial limitation of actinic radiation (e.g., UV); and washing and reusing the reusable molds. Lenses produced according to the Lightstream Technology™ can have high consistency and high fidelity to the original lens design, because of use of reusable, high precision molds. In addition, contact lenses with high quality can be produced at relatively lower cost due to the short curing time and a high production yield.
But, the Lightstream Technology™ has not been applied to make silicone hydrogel contact lenses. One potential issue in the manufacture of silicone hydrogel contact lenses based on Lightstream Technology™ is that the silicone-containing components of a lens formulation left behind on the mold surface may not be water soluble and an organic solvent may have to be used to wash the reusable molds. However, use of organic solvents can be costly and is not environmentally friendly. A water-based mold washing system is desirable. Therefore, there is still a need for a method for washing, with a water-based system, reusable molds for making silicone hydrogel contact lenses according to the Lightstream Technology™.